From Digital Darwinism to Digital Dementia

First came digital darwinism which is when technology advances faster than people and businesses can keep up. Now we have Digital Dementia. Yes, digital dementia is a real thing. Here is a definition of digital dementia found in the journal Psychology Today: “Digital Dementia” is a term coined by neuroscientist Manfred Spitzer to describe an overuse of digital technology resulting in the breakdown of cognitive abilities. Spitzer proposes that short-term memory pathways will start to deteriorate from underuse if we overuse technology.

Jim Kwik and Simon Sinek share their perspectives on the effects of excessive smartphone use. They delve into how cell technology affects our interpersonal relations and cognitive abilities. They provide compelling reasons for just putting our smartphones away on regular basis. The risk of our smartphones always top-of-mind is real. Best case we will lose friends and colleagues. Worst case is we quite possibly will begin to slowly lose our minds.

Photo by Dan Silva on Unsplash

Yikes!

The ideas shared within this video should not be news. The leadership in technology companies that make our smart devices routinely ban their children from using smart devices. Why the ban, because they know children grow to become smarter and more engaging adults when they focus their attention on people, and not technology.